


Secret Diner Meet-Ups

by blackash26



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexuality, Coming Out, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-31
Updated: 2014-07-31
Packaged: 2018-02-11 06:32:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2057553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackash26/pseuds/blackash26
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damian has questions. Steph has some answers. If only they could get that far.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secret Diner Meet-Ups

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a few months back for Asexy April and then forgot about it. I’m posting it now, because why not? I feel sort of bad for just writing a “coming out” fic, but I figured I could use this as the beginning of a series of short stories about Damian’s adventures in asexuality.
> 
> Also, I owe a big thanks to prosaly on tumblr for beta-ing this for me!

Steph walked into the diner and glanced around. She spotted Damian immediately. He had recently shot up to six feet in height and was showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. His height, paired with the new liberty spikes adorning his head made him hard to overlook him even when he was sitting down. Only a year ago she would have had much more trouble finding him. 

Shaking her head, she smiled. They grow up so fast.

She walked slowly over to the kid’s booth, casually surveying her surroundings as she went. Damian’s table was predictably the farthest from the door and the kitchen. He was sitting facing the door, thus allowing him to see everyone who came in and out, including her. That left her to take seat facing the kitchen. Was that a sign of trust? She liked to think so, but Damian could be very hard to read.

She smiled her brightest smile and plopped down across from Damian.

“Brown,” Damian greeted her stiffly.

She rolled her eyes. “You can call me by first name by now, can’t you? What with us having secret meetings like this. We _must_ be close.”

Damian folded his arms across his chest and glared. “Tt. Do not mistake a lack of viable options as a declaration of closeness.”

“Uh huh.” She was not impressed with this secret meeting so far. “Your coded transmission did sound pretty urgent, but if you don’t want my help I’m _sure_ someone else would be - ”

“You are sufficient,” Damian interrupted her though gritted teeth. “The issue is not pressing, merely…a continuing irritant that I felt I must address.”

Steph frowned and leaned back in her seat. “I’m surprised you’re being so roundabout. You’re usually much more straightforward.”

Damian sniffed. “The matter requires delicacy. I was under the impression you had matured enough to handle such matters.”

Steph pushed down a flare irritation. She knew better than to feed the little troll. “I didn’t come here to debate about my maturity or yours for that matter. I came here to help you with this super-secret “irritant” of yours so you might as well get with the talking or I can just be on my way.” She put both of her hands flat on the table and pushed herself up to her feet.

Damian jerked forward in his seat, eyes wide. “You cannot leave yet. I will behave myself, I promise.”

That had worked far more quickly than she’d expected. Damian must really need help, she thought as she lowered herself back into her seat. “So what can I do for you today? Is this related to my night job or my day job?”

Damian’s shoulders hunched slightly before he remembered himself and resumed his normal ramrod straight posture. “Potentially it could affect both.”

Steph nodded encouragingly. She really wanted to know what was going on with the little troll. On the rare occasions he asked for her help he always asked outright for what he needed. He never beat around the bush.

“I have consulted the library and the internet.” Damian paused and looked faintly constipated for a few moments before he went on, “However, the resources I found were not as precise as I would prefer.”

That was…unhelpful. “You're gonna have to clarify, not-so-short stuff, because I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

Damian flushed. “I do not know why I ever thought to speak to you on this matter, cow. Perhaps I should find someone else to consult with.”

Steph snorted. “I'd be offended if that wasn't the weakest insult you've sent my way in years.”

“Tt.”

She gave him a few moments to say something more substantial. Nothing. “Well, if you're going to be difficult I'll start taking wild guesses.”

She was betting this was a non-superhero problem. Otherwise they’d be having this conversation in uniform. Hmm. Well, Damian _was_ a teenager, even if he didn’t quite act like one. Why not start with a cliché? If she was right then she was awesome and if she was wrong he might be embarrassed enough to get this show on the road.

“Is this about a girl?” she asked.

Damian scowled but said nothing. Maybe she was on to something.

“Ah, a boy then?”

“There is neither a boy nor a girl,” Damian said, looking down at the table. His voice sounded strained.

“Well, that's fine too. There's no rush. It’s okay to be running solo,” she assured him. No one had told her that when she was his age and she wished someone had. It was the least she could do for him.

Damian turned his head to look out the diner’s window. He hadn’t looked at her once since the topic of relationships came up. “Even if there will never be a girl or a boy?”

What was Damian getting at? She was certain he had better self-esteem than this. “Hey. Don't sell yourself short, brat. You’ll find someone you like one day, and they’ll even like you back, nasty personality and all.”

Still looking out the window, Damian grimaced. “No. It is not a matter of a poor sample to choose from. I. What if I do not desire...”

The kid cut himself off and was quiet for a few moments before he continued speaking, his words chosen with clinical precision. “I have tried to understand what I am supposed to want from others. The books and movies and articles I have read have been very clear on the sort of responses that are typical of a young adult human male. However, I have never felt, I suppose the term is, attracted to anyone. Further, I have attempted...more extensive research on what carnal relations entail. It was unpleasant. I have no desire to partake in such activities. I cannot imagine that I ever will.” Damian finished his explanation to the window pane before finally turning to look at her.

Sort of. He was not quite meeting her eyes and definitely looked ready to bolt.

“That's fine too, you know,” she said quickly, wanting to put the kid at ease. Coming out was never easy. “It will make it easier for you to be married to your cape once you're legal,” she joked.

“I do not literally want to be married to my cape, Brown. Your plebeian nature is showing,” Damian growled angrily. But some of the tension he’d been holding in his shoulders dissipated. He also looked less likely to run away.

Excellent. “Gosh darn. I thought I was covering that up. I better work on that.”

Rather than rising to the bait, Damian fidgeted in his seat for a moment before asking, “Do, do you think Grayson will mind?”

Steph blinked. And the final pieces of the puzzle fell into place. This was why Damian had come to her. “Dick? Dick will love you no matter who you are or aren't into. I can promise you that,” she said confidently.

“And…” Damian looked down at the table. “My father?”

Steph leaned across the table and put a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “Damian, your dad may have the emotional intelligence of a spoon, but he does still love you. I mean, I don’t think he’ll understand at first because the difference between being asexy and celibate might be tricky for him. But he’ll love you anyway. And if he doesn’t Dick and I will talk some sense into him.”

Damian shrugged off her hand. “If you say so…”

“I do.”

“Tt.” Damian fidgeted again and glanced up at her. “What does that word mean, anyway?”

“What? Asexy?” She cocked her head to the side and smiled encouragingly.

“Yes.”

“It’s short for asexual. Ace works too.”

“And that’s what I am? Asexual?” Damian asked, watching her intently.

Damn, the kid looked way too earnest. She hadn’t thought he could look so self-conscious. “Well, based on what you’ve said? Probably? There’s something of a gradient to it. Just like people can be straight or gay or varying degrees of bi. You read about the Kinsey Scale, right?”

Damian nodded.

“Right, so it’s like that, but for whether or not you’re sexually attracted to people. And um, there’s also a scale about whether you feel romantic love or not. I’m hardly an expert, but Tim and I did some research on this back when we were your age…”

Tim was going to kill her if he ever heard that she had mentioned this to the littlest Wayne. She affected a small cough and went on, “Anyway, the internet might be a bit more helpful to you now that you’ve got some better search terms. And then you can figure out the specifics for yourself.”

Damian’s forehead furrowed with thought. “So…I am not broken?”

And there it was. She wanted to pull the kid into a hug, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t appreciate that. Instead she leaned forward and touched his hand. “There is absolutely nothing wrong with you, Damian. And you’re definitely not the only one like this, okay? Trust me.”

The kid hesitated and then nodded slowly. “That is…reassuring.”

“Well, that’s good, because it’s true.”

“I suppose I will have to take your word for it for the time being,” Damian said, regaining some of his usual haughty tone.

“In that case, I think this calls for milkshakes!” Steph declared, smiling her best one hundred watt smile.

Damian’s nose wrinkled adorably. “Must we?”

“We must!” she exclaimed, waving down a waitress that had been giving their table a wide berth up until then. The brat must have scared her off before Steph the puberty guru could arrive. “Bonding time must be sealed with ice cream,” she told him firmly.

“Fine, but only if you tell me why you and Drake were researching…that,” he conceded with a smirk.

“Hmm…you drive a hard bargain, and some parts of that are best friend _and_ ex-girlfriend levels of classified, so I won’t be able to tell you _everything,_ but I can tell you some of it.”

“Deal,” Damian said. And they shook on it.


End file.
